Wednesday practice reports around the state

South Carolina State continued preseason football preparation on Wednesday, conducting its second two-a-day workout. The Bulldogs held a short, light practice in the morning in shorts and got in a “more lively” session under the lights in shells, according to head coach Buddy Pough.

During the evening session, the Bulldogs completed installation of the offense and defense SC State will be utilizing in 2011, devoted some attention to special teams and got in some work on fundamentals, Pough said.

Pough’s team returns to the field on Thursday for an evening session in full pads, beginning at approximately 7 p.m.

Furman

A 40-minute full contact morning scrimmage highlighted Furman football’s first day of two-a-day preseason practices Wednesday at the Bob King Practice Facility.

Every player in uniform with the exception of specialists registered action in the scrimmage, which afforded head coach Bruce Fowler and staff the first opportunity of the preseason to evaluate personnel under full contact conditions.

“We went at it pretty hard and our guys did a nice job of staying on task for the most part,” said Fowler. “We got in some situational work, as well as some short yardage and goal line. Overall I thought the offensive line did a pretty good job.”

Quarterback Dakota Derrick connected with tight end Colin Anderson on a 37-yard touchdown strike for the session’s first score. Minutes later quarterback Chris Forcier rolled left and out-ran defenders to the pylon to complete a 9-yard scoring run.

Defensively, cornerback Cortez Johnson intercepted a long Derrick aerial, and strong safety Marcus McMorris stepped in front of a pass from freshman quarterback Travis Eman and returned it for a touchdown.

In the first series of goal line work, the Paladin defense stopped the offense a foot shy of the end zone to end the possession. Later, running back Hank McCloud scored on an 8-yard scoring run around right end behind solid blocking by fullback Tee Griscom.

The non-contact afternoon session featured special teams work.

Wofford

The Wofford College football team put on shoulder pads for the third day of practice on Wednesday afternoon. The team was on the field for two hours working on conditioning and implementing the playbook.

Practice began with a conditioning county fair, as the team moved rapidly through five stations working primarily on speed and agility. The squad then worked in offensive and defensive position groups before a team series of plays late in practice.

“I think you can start teaching the fundamentals from a blocking and tackling standpoint once you put on the pads,” said head coach Mike Ayers. “It was a great day as far as weather with the humidity down. It was still hot with a heat index of 110 degrees on the field, but the kids did a real good job with it. From the standpoint of getting better, we did okay. Hopefully we got better from a knowledge standpoint at least.

“Tomorrow we will come back out in the pads,” continued Ayers. “I think the best thing that I am seeing is that there are some old hats who are understanding what to do and I am seeing some young kids that are picking some stuff up in a hurry. Hopefully those are the guys that we are going to count on either in a back-up role or even in a starting role because some of these kids are very talented.”

Wofford will return to the field at 3:30 p.m. on Thursday for the second practice in helmets and shoulder pads. The team will be in full pads on Friday afternoon and then have the first two-a-day on Saturday.

The Citadel

The Citadel Football held their fifth practice of fall camp at the Maybank Triplets Practice Facility at Willson Field on Wednesday morning. The Bulldogs, who worked out for two-and-a-half hours for the first time in full pads, enjoyed a second consecutive morning of comfortable temperatures in the upper 70s.

Coach Higgins after Day 5:

“Today was our first day of pads. Players did a live 1-on-1 session to set their pads as well as a live open field tackling drill. Ball carriers worked on double moves in space while defenders worked on their shimmy technique and proper fundamentals of tackling. We also did a live 10-minute period of ones vs. ones. The defense dominated the session although Ben Dupree broke a 50-yard run. Freshman nose man Cam Mobley did a nice job on defense while running back Dalton Trevino ran hard.”

The team will return to action on Thursday for their first two-a-day at 8 a.m. and then again at 3:15 p.m. They will continue on Friday at 8 a.m. and hold another two-a-day on Saturday, Aug. 13.